Unexpected Ways to Grow Your Business by Switching to Remote Work

Over the past few months, we’ve seen virtually every business capable of operating without in-person contact shift to working remotely. It’s safe to say that many of these businesses did not have a plan to move to telecommuting, but they quickly learned it was do or die.

The good news is that this forced move enabled more businesses to see the feasibility of a remote team. But what many may not know is there are many other advantages to having a virtual team.

Your Money Goes Further

You get more for your money when hiring remote workers. Many times, those seeking remote work value their freedom and flexibility over having a central office, and may be willing to work for less than a traditional employee.

It’s worth noting that the IRS has set guidelines for determining if someone is an employee or an independent contractor. In general, if the business owner is paying for the result of the work, rather than the ability to control how the work is done, then the position is likely suitable for a contractor rather than an employee.

In addition to the cost-savings, Forbes.com reports that 77% of those who work from home get more done in fewer hours thanks to fewer distractions like meetings, conversations, and noisy coworkers. In addition, Highfive.com reports that remote workers accomplished 30% more work in less time. It could be argued that increased productivity is due in part that many realize that they will have more free time to do the things they love if they get their work done in a more productive manner.

Candidates Are More Specialized

Instead of hiring one person to do a variety of jobs, having a remote team allows you to hire the right person with the right skills for the right job. Many virtual professionals today work for more than one person and therefore get very specialized in a set of skills. No longer do you have to hire an “all-in-one” candidate to do customer service, bookkeeping and social media.

Instead, you could hire:

A content manager to create and manage content across your website, blog and social media.

An email marketing specialist to create weekly emails for your customer base or to improve the client onboarding processes.

For moms, working from home provides the ability to have better work / life balance. For instance, if a child is sick, a mom can continue to work while monitoring her child. In the same way, she can take a break to go have lunch with her child or spouse and make up the time that afternoon or evening if needed.

Take Doug with Printershoppe for example. He hired his first remote worker — Janice, a designer — and 12 years later she is still with him. At the time of hiring, Janice had a 4-year-old daughter and wanted to stay home to raise her. Now her daughter is graduating high school this year.

Greater Flexibility

If your remote team members are independent contractors, you have the freedom to end the contract if they are no longer needed. There are no firing or unemployment penalties. In addition, if you decide the person is not a good fit, you can more easily find someone who is.

More Reasons to Consider a Remote Team

A remote team also provides additional benefits to your business and the environment.

Some great tools are available to support virtual teamwork such as Slack, Zoom, Trello, Basecamp and Asana.

Having the ability to hire the right person for the right job and pay a fair rate enables small businesses to grow faster than ever before. By combining that with all these additional benefits, establishing a virtual team becomes a real advantage for many small businesses.

Respond

Lesley Pyle, MSc. is the founder of HireMyMom.com, a boutique service connecting small businesses with top-notch virtual professionals across the country. Lesley Pyle is an opinion columnist for the CEOWORLD magazine. Follow her on LinkedIn.

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